Home Google Celebrates Pac-Man’s 30th Birthday with Playable Logo

Google Celebrates Pac-Man’s 30th Birthday with Playable Logo

As the eerily familiar bleeps and bloops of video games past began emanating from my computer this morning, a friend nearby immediately recognized them and quipped that he’d spent “way too much time and brain cells playing that game”.

That game is Pac-Man and it’s featured in a playable Google Doodle for the next 48 hours on the Google homepage.

The search engine is celebrating the video game legend’s 30th birthday today (and tomorrow) with its first playable Google Doodle.

To give it a shot, simply go to Google.com and press the “Insert Coin” button, or wait a few seconds and the game will start up. If you hit the “Insert Coin” button again, Ms. Pac-Man will join in and you can have a second player play along using the WASD keys.

The doodle goes to good length to recreate the original Pac-Man experience, glitches and all, according to senior UX designer and developer Marcin Wichary:

Google doodler Ryan Germick and I made sure to include PAC-MAN’s original game logic, graphics and sounds, bring back ghosts’ individual personalities, and even recreate original bugs from this 1980’s masterpiece.

In its efforts to recreate the original, Google went so far as to include 255 playable levels, with the game glitching out on the 256th – just as it did in the original game.

Take a look at the game or go give it a shot for yourself.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.